"Occasionally an iceberg may move around and wipe out an unlucky community, but mostly the sea ice provides protection from the storms that rage above, making it a relatively stable environment in which biodiversity can flourish."
Captured by a remotely operated vehicle (ROV) at O'Brien Bay, the video offers a rare glimpse into an ecosystem which scientists are only "beginning to understand", Johnstone told Reuters.
The footage was captured while scientists retrieved a SeapHox pH data logger, which has been recording the acidity, oxygen, salinity and temperature of the seawater on an hourly basis since November last year.
